Early this morning, we met with several members of the therapy and education community for a panel discussion regarding services for speech pathology in Cambodia. Dr. Smith was the engineer behind the event, having invited a representative of social services who works in cooperation with the minister of health, a founder of a nationally operated NGO, volunteer speech and language therapists from the UK, a speech pathologist from Australia and the director of special education at a local school for children with intellectual delay.
The premise for coming to Vietnam and Cambodia was to extend a hand and establish a relationship with countries for which the field of speech pathology is young. In preparation for our arrival to both countries, our team realized that no national speech pathologists existed. Naturally, that changed our perspective on what to expect in the dialogue that we were to have with the healthcare professionals. Each of us, as American speech pathologists, are intimately familiar with the need to educate doctors, nurses, teachers and the community regarding the role of the speech pathologist: our scope of practice and the impact we can have for people with communication and swallowing disorders. We were met with quite a surprise in Vietnam when we heard the progress that the programs in place had made. It was astounding! However, Vietnam is in a completely different situation than Cambodia and I admit that I had a different (lesser) expectation for the program in Cambodia.
Happily, a sturdy groundwork is being laid in this country by a few tireless workers who have thrown their lives into the service of others. The level of professionalism, expertise and determination is inspiring. Our ‘panel discussion’ was actually a series of presentations by the invited guests, including one the delegates from our team. Catherine Moore presented an excellent summary of the field of speech pathology in the United States. Our delegate leader, Dr. Alex Johnson made a short introduction to our team and People to People, including our common goal of increasing the relationship between providers in the countries of Cambodia and the States. Hun Touch is the special education director at a school serving children with intellectual disabilities. His application of visual aids, sensory integration, inclusion and integration in the classroom was similar to what we work toward school settings in the states. Further, he has seen the need for a holistic approach to the education of these kids, acknowledging their need for support not only in the classroom, but socially and vocationally. He’s developed a project, The Rabbit Café, where older teens and adults with disabilities can create and sell food, coffee and souveniers with the end goal of being independent in their community. Kong Vichetra is the director of Komar Pikar, a foundation which seeks to coordinate services and advocate for children with special needs. As Touch described, Vichetra works at governmental and legislative level, while Touch works at the grassroots level. What an incredible partnership by these two Khmer men.
Volunteers in the field of communication disorders to Cambodia are frequent. Currently, there is a group of recent graduates from London who are participating in a special project evaluating service delivery issues in Cambodia. There is also an Australian speech pathologist who has committed to living in country for one year and is treating individual children as well as training the teachers who work with them and developing a daily living skills curriculum for adolescents and adults with disabilities. In additition to Dr. Smith, an audiologist is here in the country and has pioneered the effort in his field, within a project called All Ears Cambodia. He sees thousands of people annually, evaluating and providing teaching regarding hearing, ear health, as well as dispensing hearing aids.
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